Air quality impacts from hazardous waste combustion at Portland Cement manufacturing plants

The use of hazardous waste as an alternative fuel source has intensified as the cost of traditional fossil fuels has increased. However, little data exist regarding the air quality impacts of burning hazardous waste as a fuel source. This paper examines air quality impacts associated with hazardous waste incineration conducted at three Portland Cement manufacturing plants located in the United States. Air quality sampling of particulate matter (as PM2.5) was conducted in the vicinity of the plants from April, 1999 to March, 2000. The PM samples were speciated to identify potential signature emissions and source impacts from the facilities. In addition, meteorological data was collected to identify transport and dispersion characteristics of the contaminants from the facilities. This paper presents an analysis of the upwind and downwind concentration and regional impacts to PM concentrations resulting from the hazardous waste combustion.